"I should have killed you when I had the chance."

The phone call looped in Frisk's mind over and over and over. Frisk hadn't even known who Alphys was. It had been their first timeline. They'd been terrified. Terrified of dying, terrified of their power, terrified of what they'd become.

That's not who you are, Frisk. Chara's voice grounded them. Chara had retreated into their headspace, leaving Frisk alone in the lab doorway.

Not alone. Never alone. But Chara was just as scared, no matter what they said.

Frisk took a deep breath. Aunt Undyne could only distract Dad and Flowey for so long. They needed to get this over with.

Undyne said it's going to be okay, Chara said. Frisk wouldn't tell them that Undyne was wrong about plenty of things. Like how to make spaghetti, for example.

But Undyne was probably right about this. Probably.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance."

Alphys never had. Not the first run, when she'd become queen. Not the second one, when Frisk and Chara finished the job, destroying the entire timeline. Not any of the others where they tried and tried and tried to do better.

Frisk still didn't know why she hadn't taken them out. She'd had every right to.

Gathering their Determination, they knocked on the doorframe.

Alphys didn't hear them over the sound of her welding torch. Frisk knocked again, louder.

"Ack!" The flame seared across the metal exoskeleton, leaving a scorch mark across what would become Flowey's arm. Alphys switched off the torch and flipped up her welding mask. "O-oh! Frisk! Or, um, Chara?"

She squinted, and Frisk tapped their sternum. The necklace was tucked under their shirt, out of sight.

"Frisk," she repeated more confidently. Her posture relaxed.

Why does she always like you better? Chara grumbled.

They both knew it was probably because of the videos Alphys had found. But instead Frisk told them, Because you like Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2.

They could feel Chara scowling.

We are not having this conversation right now.

Frisk smiled a little.

"D-did Chara figure out what they want to look like?" Alphys asked. "Not that there's a rush! It'll still take a few days to finish, um, Flowey's body, but I thought. I don't really know why else you'd want to talk to me alone…?"

They swallowed, their throat feeling painfully dry. It was a good thing they didn't use their throat anyway. Still they hesitated, their hands shaking before they signed their words.

"I did something really bad." That was an understatement. Chara snorted at them, though Frisk didn't see them attempting to explain anything.

"Huh? Frisk, you didn't—you didn't try to separate Chara on your own, d-did you?" Alphys rushed over to them, her hands hovering near as if she could feel Chara's spirit radiating from Frisk.

"No," they signed quickly. "This was longer ago. Underground."

Alphys blinked. "Um, okay? I mean, of course you can talk to me, about anything! I just, thought you would go to your mom or Sans first. Or Papyrus. Or, um, anyone except me?"

"It has to be you," they signed firmly, their gaze never leaving Alphys's eyes. "You know how to tell the truth, even when it's hard."

"I couldn't have done that without you, Frisk." Her face reddened a little. "B-but, if it would help, I'd be happy to role play with you again!"

Role play. Frisk's shoulders relaxed a little bit. Telling the truth could be like a game. They could pretend someone else was talking about all of the horrible things they'd done.

They could pretend that Alphys would hate someone else. It would give them the strength to get the words out.

You can always go back if you mess up too bad, Chara said.

Frisk knew that, but it seemed insincere to rely on their power for this. They should have to live with the consequences of their actions, just like anyone else. Believing they could avoid consequences was what got them here in the first place.

"Um, I can start, if you want," Alphys said. They must have been quiet for too long. "Who do you want me to be? I could be you, or… I guess I can't, since I don't know what you're worried about, ha ha."

"I'll be me, and you'll be you," Frisk signed.

It's not really role playing then, is it?

It's the thought that counts, Chara.

"O-okay! Let's do it!" Alphys gave a nervous grin, like she was the one about to spill a horrible secret and not them. "Hi, Frisk! Was there something you wanted to talk about?"

"Yes," they nodded while signing. Then, with Chara's added determination spurring them on, they continued, "You know about resets, right?"

"Oh. Oh." Her eyes widened."I should've guessed, I just, didn't think you would ever… b-but, this is good! Um, maybe we should sit down..."

There wasn't anywhere to sit in the lab besides Alphys's workbench, which was filled with way too many tools, screws, and wires.

"It's okay," Frisk assured her. "I wanted to tell someone for a long time. Chara and I both have."

I didn't, Chara protested, even though they had been the one who caved to Undyne's advice.

"How much do you know about resets?" Frisk asked, narrowing their eyes and leaning their head forward slightly.

Sans had known of them, read them well enough to know how many times they'd died, up to a point. He didn't remember past timelines, though. Alphys, having studied determination in detail, might know more. Maybe that was why she'd never fought them—she knew how pointless it would be.

"Um. I know that they began long before you fell down. That was probably Flowey's fault… my fault," she said quietly. "I know shifting the space-time continuum requires a massive concentration of determination. The human soul's resolve to change fate. You read about that, um, in my old lab."

"It wasn't just Flowey. I took the power when I fell down." Frisk had to hold Alphys's gaze in order to sign properly, no matter how much they wanted to look away. "I don't know how it happened. But when I died, I would come back. And sometimes I could go back even if I didn't die. If I wanted to fix things, or… or make them worse."

Their gaze dropped to their feet. Even when they hadn't been trying, they seemed to make things worse. Accidentally killing Papyrus, sending the Underground into a bloodthirsty rage under Undyne's rule. Killing Mom and Undyne, leaving Mettaton to scramble to give monsters distraction after distraction, covering their darkness with glitter. And of course, killing nearly everyone, placing the burden of ruling on Aunt Alphys.

"This timeline doesn't seem so bad, if you ask me." She forced a weak smile. "As for the others, I… didn't really want to think about it. The DT extractor could be reversed to track signs of splitting timelines, but I left the thing alone. Those reports never seemed to do Sans any good. And it wasn't like we'd remember those other lives, right?"

She clicked her claws together, her gaze going distant.

"But, um. I did think about… if I couldn't handle it anymore, it wouldn't really change anything if I…"

Her eyes squeezed shut, but quickly she was back to pretending to be fine. "B-but hey, we're not here to talk about me! You said you did something… bad?"

Bad. Awful. Unforgivable.

Tears began to well in their eyes.

"You died," they signed weakly.

"Yeah." She sighed, looking smaller than ever. "Yeah, that figures."

Frisk didn't say how she died. They didn't need to.

An awkward silence stretched between them, broken only by Undyne and Asgore laughing in the next room.

"Sometimes you didn't die," Frisk went on. They could do this. They needed to do this; they couldn't keep pretending they were above consequences. "The first…"

First of how many? For a two-handed sign, they would need to specify, but admitting just how many times felt like one step too much. They hoped Alphys wouldn't read too much into their timid one-handed sign.

"The first time, you lived. And you wished I was dead. Because I was so horrible."

They stopped signing to wipe their eyes.

"Frisk…?" Alphys's voice was concerned, not disgusted. Frisk couldn't see her through their tears.

I can't do this, they cried out to Chara. I love Aunt Alphys. I don't want her to hate me!

You really do think you're above consequences, Chara scoffed, but they quickly softened. She's already scared of me. Let me do it.

Chara…

They were my actions, too. Their voice was small.

You were scared. You'd just come back from the dead! Your mom wasn't the same, and nothing was the way you remembered—

And you were just a kid, and everyone was trying to kill you, and our dear brother told you that killing was the only way to survive. We both had our reasons.

Alphys's hands gently squeezed their shoulders, pulling them out of their headspace.

"Frisk, p-please talk to me."

"We killed everyone," they signed before Chara could speak for them. "After the timeline where you became queen, we destroyed the world. We thought… it would make everyone forget what we'd done for good…"

They'd hoped it would make themselves forget.

It didn't.

"We're still here." Alphys's arms wrapped around them. She was shorter than them; she couldn't give the all-encompassing hugs that Mom did. It still warmed them to their core. "Whatever you did then, you fixed it. You saved everyone. You're a hero!"

She was pressed too close for Frisk to sign. Maybe that was on purpose. She couldn't want to hear more about the sins Frisk had committed. She had the blessing of forgetting.

"I know how it feels, though." She bit her lip and let Frisk go. "I screwed up so, so bad. Determination couldn't fix my problems—n-not that determination stopped you from hurting! I mean…" She huffed. "I'm sorry. I'm still screwing up. B-but, people keep forgiving me? And if they can forgive all the stuff I've done in this timeline, then I know they'll forgive the things you did that they don't even remember."

Frisk rubbed their arm, still unsure. Alphys's failures had still saved lives. Frisk's had only taken them away.

"You were just a kid, Frisk," she insisted. "You're still a kid. N-not that there's anything wrong with that! Just, you should never have had to—you had so much power! And, with great power comes g-great responsibility, s-so. I don't think anyone could have handled the power to reset time without… messing up a few times."

She looked at them. They were still slumped, curled in on themself.

"...I'm not helping, am I."

Frisk flinched.

"You shouldn't have to help. You should hate me." Their teeth clenched tightly with the word hate.

"I'm not very good at doing what I should." She smiled awkwardly. "Sorry."

Strangely, that was what coaxed a smile onto Frisk's own face. "You're good at role playing."

Alphys blinked, then let out a loud laugh.

"I had a good partner. And, um! I think it went pretty well!" Her eyes widened, and she gave them a panicked look. "As long as, um, you're not going to—"

"I'm not going to reset again," Frisk promised. "We can still save and load some here on the surface, but we're not going back to the Underground. Ever." They shook their head no with finality.

"Well! That's a relief!" Her laugh was still a little nervous, but Frisk couldn't blame her. It was a lot of trust to put in someone who was, in her own words, just a kid.

I don't think you're "just" anything, Frisk. Chara sounded proud.

"You're a good kid, Frisk," Alphys said. "And Chara, if you can hear me? You're a good kid, too. Whatever you guys did doesn't change that."

Chara and Frisk's determination burned together, fueled by Alphys's love.

Lowercase love. Not LOVE. Frisk was never going to feel that kind of LOVE ever again.

"Thanks, Aunt Alphys," Chara said out loud, throwing their arms around her. Frisk couldn't sign at the same time, so they settled for gently bumping their head against hers. Alphys might not know what it meant, but it was the closest they could both come to hugging her at the same time.

"Ehehe, you're welcome, but we should still get you therapy, okay?"

Frisk winced, feeling Chara release full control to them again. They pulled back to sign, "I guess." They weren't really sure how that would even work. Who besides Alphys would believe them enough to do anything useful?

Sans would, Chara said, and then they both had to hold in a laugh at the thought of Sans giving anyone therapy.

"It really helps!" Alphys insisted. "There's a place I go, if you're okay with seeing a monster. They're used to, um, weird cases like ours."

Oh. That… might not be so bad. Frisk nodded.

"Good." Alphys sighed in relief. "Because as much as I love you guys, I'm really not qualified to give you advice. But anyway! If that was all of the hard stuff, do you want to talk about something more fun? I know we still need to run more tests, but if Chara has any concept art for their body..."

It was a pretty blatant subject change, but they took it gratefully. Frisk pulled out the keyblade necklace from under their shirt, which made Alphys beam in recognition.

"H-hey, you kept it!"

"Of course we did." Chara grinned. The particular keyblade they wore was named Two Become One. They had gotten a kick out of that, even if they typically wore their old locket.

"Do you have a pen?" Chara asked. "I think I've decided on a few ideas…"